Month: November 2009

I noticed something interesting about my mom. When I was growing up she always had arthritis, tendonitis, and all kinds of aches and pains in her arms and shoulders.

That's probably what you'd expect for a single mom with a job that involved hours of sitting and typing. At one point it got so bad that she had to install voice-activated software on her computer. But when she retired a couple of years ago she stumbled upon a cure for chronic pain.

Don't worry, you don't need to buy anything or click on a special link or change your religion. I'll tell you exactly what happened, and how it relates to riding a bike.

About a million years ago when I did my first bike tour up the Pacific coast from Los Angeles to Santa Cruz, I tried to be Superman and I rode up the steep and rolling hills around San Luis Obispo in the highest gear I could handle. By the end of the day all the cartilage in my knees had turned to liquid. My bones ached and my kneecaps were floating in wet, floppy sacks the size of grapefruits.

Oh, to be young again! The next morning a part of me was thinking, "I sh0uld probably take it easy today" but mostly I just wanted to get on the road and keep moving. It hurt, but I was excited about being on the road.

A few miles up past the Hearst castle, I stopped on the beach and saw what looked like a big stack of driftwood-but it was moving. I got closer and realized it was a bunch of sea lions, all piled together and resting in the sand.

This was so exciting I laughed out loud--and then something happened that I can't explain. It was like someone hit the deflate button in my knee joints. The swelling went away, as if the fluid was leaving through an invisible drain, and ten seconds later the soggy grapefruits had turned into tight, healthy knees.

For years after that, I had this theory that when you're really happy and excited about something, then pain and injury become irrelevant--and vanish on their own.

This seems like my mom's situation. Years of sitting in uncomfortable chairs, working her fingers on the keyboard, led to pain and suffering. But then something happened. She started knitting blankets and toys for her grandchildren.

Then when the economy tanked and took her retirement account with it, she went back to work like so many people are doing. She got a job in a shop that sells handmade gifts, and she started knitting hats and stuffed animals to sell in the shop as well.

My mom gets really creative with her knitting, and her stuff moved quickly. She got requests for more, and now she takes orders, sells at craft fairs, and basically--if you didn't get this already--she's spending most of her time sitting in a chair, working her fingers.

But she never complains about arthritis.

So how does this relate to biking? Well first of all, passion and joy and excitement are natural sources of vitality, energy and healing power.

This is why I suspect that riding on a bike trail, and best of all bike touring (or even just exploring your county for a day) will get you in much better shape than riding on a stationary bike in a gym. If bike commuting puts some fun and adventure into your day, going to work will be far less stressful.

In this blog, I'm always talking about getting around on your own power. But this goes a little bit deeper. By tapping into your emotional power, you can improve every aspect of your life.

It's true I want to lead a kick-ass, life-changing bike tour next spring so I can charge money for the same service in the future. It's true that I'm going to publish a guide-book with some of the best-kept secrets about bike touring in southern Italy.

But not everybody likes to read, and a lot of you probably won't travel with me--whether it's a schedule conflict or my smelly feet.

So here's another option for you. I've put up the full route on a squidoo lens. You'll get a basic outline of where I go, along with a few brief notes about some of the cool things to see and do while you're biking the Appian Way. You can dig up the maps yourself, get some relevant books from Amazon, or even shoot me an email if you've got a legitimate question.

By the way, if you're not already familiar with Squidoo, you should check out my lens just to see what it's all about. Pretty soon you'll be posting your own pictures and stories of your bike rides and bike touring adventures. You might even make some money. (I've already got $1.40 in pending earnings. That's almost enough to buy a cappuccino when I get to Rome!)

If you're reading this, some part of you wants to be stronger, faster, to travel, to be free. Don't limit yourself. There's more than one way to ride to Brindisi, and if that's not where you want to be, you have as many challenges and adventures awaiting you as there are stars in the sky and dreams in your heart.

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